U.S. online holiday sales are expected to shatter previous records. Adobe Analytics, which measures sales at 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers, predicts a total of $189 billion in online holiday sales, a 33% increase compared to last year.
Raj Subramaniam, president and chief operating officer at FedEx, said the company achieved “the growth that we expected to see over a period of three to five years … in a period of three to five months.”
The announcement Wednesday that FedEx would no longer make ground deliveries for Amazon comes two months after the delivery company said it was terminating its air delivery contract with Amazon.
The courier has cut its financial outlook just three months after raising it, reflecting an abrupt change in FedEx’s view of the global economy.
The Memphis, Tennessee-based company did not say how many positions it wants to eliminate or from what locations. But its Indianapolis International Airport hub is part of the Express division that will be targeted for the buyouts.
The upgrade and expansion of the giant shipper’s 320-acre, 2.5 million-square-foot complex is driven by the need to keep pace with steady growth in e-commerce activity.
Andy Frain Services Inc. plans to close its security operations center at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis at the end of September.
The project was one of several investments FedEx announced Friday. The company said the projects are all related to recent federal tax reform.
The speedy package delivery giant is the 14th largest employer in Indiana with about 9,100 full-time workers.
Both couriers now have entered the holiday season’s returns cycle, which also promises to be busy.
The investment in new equipment would ramp up the speed of sorting and handling at the 2.4 million-square-foot hub, as well as create about 125 full-time jobs and 450 part-time positions.
FedEx will skip special charges for most packages shipped during the holiday season this year as it seeks to undercut rival UPS in a fight for a larger share of the millions of items now bought online.
The settlements bring the total FedEx has paid resolve driver compensation claims to at least $454 million.
That’s important for Indianapolis International, where cargo represents a significant portion of landing weight. And landing fees that airports charge carriers are weight-based.
FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. expect to set another record for packages handled this holiday season, fueled by an estimated 17 percent jump in online spending. Indianapolis is home to FedEx’s second-busiest package hub.
According to a tax-abatement application with the city, FedEx plans to install $170 million in new package-sorting equipment, while adding 27 full-time jobs and 178 part-time jobs. It would also retain 728 full-time and about 3,200 part-time workers.
The delivery company predicted Monday that shipments from Black Friday through Christmas Eve will rise 12.4 percent over last year, to 317 million pieces.
FedEx, which operates several facilities in Indianapolis employing thousands of workers, said the peak day is likely to be Dec. 15, when it expects to handle 22.6 million shipments around the world.
Rival UPS says it will hire up to 95,000 seasonal workers. Both companies are benefiting from growth in online shopping.
This year, 132 drivers from 46 states will compete in the company’s “Chairman’s Challenge Competition and Celebration,” which was scheduled for July 13-15 in the FedEx Express parking lot on South High School Road.
